Blog « Antemortem Arts | Art & Writing by Amy Crook

This Does Not Define You

Posted on March 3rd, 2018

This Does Not Define You, a Moana-themed watercolor by Amy Crook

This Does Not Define You, 8″x10″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

They have stolen the heart from inside you
But this does not define you

Sometimes a movie just has a perfect moment that you want to capture — in this case the climactic scene of Moana. The girl and the goddess have a moment of understanding – whatever is done to you, you can still define yourself: you know who you are. It’s a sentiment that should be and sadly isn’t universal in our victim-blaming society, sigh.

Who do you know that needs this reminder?

This Does Not Define You, detail, by Amy Crook

This Does Not Define You, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the interference green shines out against the turquoise and white, with just a touch of purple to define ‘you’ differently. Below, the painting is in a frame, catching the light.

This Does Not Define You, framed art by Amy Crook

This Does Not Define You, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Pretty Words, Things I'm a Fan Of
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The Skull Inside of Us

Posted on March 2nd, 2018

The Skull Inside of Us, original watercolor by Amy Crook

The Skull Inside of Us, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

There’s a skull inside all of us, waiting for its chance to get out. A skeleton of finger bones, ribs, kneecaps and vertebrae, tiny wrist bones and huge thigh bones hiding buried in the reality of us. We’re bound together by meat and nerves and souls, but underneath the surface, our skulls are always smiling.

This small painting packs a lot of punch with its iconic imagery and painterly execution. A wealth of color lives in the greys, purples and blues and golden browns mingling together to create eerie shadows.

The Skull Inside of Us, detail, by Amy Crook

The Skull Inside of Us, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the image dissolve into abstraction when it’s up close, colors separating and shapes blurring into spookiness. Below, the piece is in a black frame, making it feel more like a scrying-glass look at the future.

The Skull Inside of Us, framed art by Amy Crook

The Skull Inside of Us, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Shiny Umbreon

Posted on February 27th, 2018

Shiny Umbreon, Pokemon fan art by Amy Crook

Shiny Umbreon, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

Shiny Umbreon is, I have to admit, a favorite of mine. This catdog Pokemon is one of a bunch of related things that evolve from Eevee, and basically they’re all great but the goth one is the best, the end.

If you’d like to get in the queue for a commission of your own, send me an email! The wait list is the only way to get one right now, for what I hope are obvious reasons after two weeks of commission posts.

Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Summer Day Inception

Posted on February 22nd, 2018

Summer Day Inception, a Grease parody of Inception with chibis, by Amy Crook

Summer Day Inception, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

And so we continue the “you had to be there” week of FANbruary with this Inception/Grease mashup. Eames cleans up nicely for the Sandra Dee role, while Arthur greases down just as excellently. Look at the shine on that hair!

Categories: Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Next Big Thing

Posted on February 20th, 2018

Next Big Thing, Inception parody art by Amy Crook

Next Big Thing, 7″x5″ pen and ink and Copic marker on paper

There is an explanation for this art, but it’s long and strange and really all you need to know is that it’s a commission for the writer of the single most-commented fic on a certain archive.

It’s also another entry for FANbruary, which is a lovely celebration of fandom.

Categories: Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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No More

Posted on February 15th, 2018

No More, Doctor Who parody fan art by Amy Crook

No More, 7″x5″ pen and ink and Copic marker on paper

Another Doctor for my Patreon patron, Ian! He asked for the War Doctor next, and man am I glad I own like 20 colors of brown Copic markers because I think I used all of them on this outfit.

Seriously, though, John Hurt did a wonderful job portraying Doctor Who in this weird and difficult role, and this little cartoon captures that sense of exhausted sadness surprisingly well for not having a nose.

Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Alexander Nigel Frankfurt Benedict IV

Posted on February 13th, 2018

Alex Benedict, a flower fairy, and some ridiculous coattails, by Amy Crook

Alex Benedict, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

In my first self-published novel, The Courtship of Julian St. Albans, the main character Alex whistles up some magic butterflies to impress the young man he’s courting. He also manages to acquire a flower fairy, though that comes much later. At no point would he actually put up with the coattails, though he is awfully fond of black with black and a side of black as his palette.

I drew this for Inktober in 2015, and colored it the other day as a warm-up to commissions. Because if I don’t do my own characters for FANbruary, who will?

Categories: People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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